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Category: Life

The Sound of the Footy

The Sound of the Footy

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When we were kids at primary school, we would ask each other deep and insightful questions like ‘what’s your favourite sport, footy (Australian Rules Football) or cricket?’ Other sports never featured in this most important of schoolyard inquiries. Depending on what season it was, I would answer one or the other. In summer, I would be convinced that I loved cricket the most, but in winter I would answer ‘footy’ without hesitation. As a kid growing up in Victoria, football…

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The Kindness of Strangers III

The Kindness of Strangers III

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We had spent the day organising and delivering aid, and by early evening had worked up a hunger. On my mate’s recommendation, we decided to go to a Georgian restaurant for dinner. Being a Saturday night, the place was humming with patrons, and we were lucky to squeeze in to the last free table. My friends explained kihnkali to me: the traditional Georgian dumplings that look like little upside-down mushrooms. We ordered a plate of these and another couple of…

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The Sound of Lake Ngototo

The Sound of Lake Ngototo

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I camped at Lake Ngototo last night, a spot just out of Te Awamutu. After so long in my Covid apartment bunker in Auckland it was great to be outside again. After a beautiful sunset over the lake and surrounding farmland, I was in the bivvy early as the cold of the evening set in. Sometime in the night I was woken by the sound of a car. It pulled up nearby, the engine was switched off, and the stereo…

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Bucket List

Bucket List

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When I was a kid we had heaps of slang terms for dying. ‘Cark it’ was a favourite (for example: ‘My goldfish carked it so Mum flushed it down the dunny’), and there was also ‘fall off the perch/twig’, ‘croak’ and of course ‘kick the bucket’. Fuck knows how that term came to be. What’s the connection between dying and kicking a bucket? The term ‘bucket list’ appeared sometime in the 80s or early 90s I reckon. When I first…

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The simple things

The simple things

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The tourist season has ended, the summer visitors from northern Europe have all headed back home, and things are quiet in Crete. On a grey, drizzly day I headed up into the mountains in the west of the island to visit a museum. Upon arriving in the small village, I was pleasantly surprised to find the museum was actually open, and spent an hour with the owner touring the displays. On my way out I passed a small building, where…

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Sleeping bag

Sleeping bag

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I bought my sleeping bag way back in 1998, shortly before buying a four-wheel drive and heading off on an around Australia adventure. It was the best I had ever owned, lightweight and toasty warm and made in Australia. For over twenty years my sleeping back kept me snug and warm on hikes, four-wheel drive and remote motorcycle trips, overseas adventures, and just crashing on a mate’s couch. It had a few minor repairs over the years, and a little…

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Apricots

Apricots

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DOES LIFE LOSE ITS FLAVOUR? At the house I grew up in, we used to have an apricot tree in the back yard. Our apricot tree was huge, with spreading branches covered, except in the winter, in bright green leaves. I used to climb it sometimes, but as the trunk forked only a few feet off the ground, and the upper limbs were too thin to hold my weight, I never got much altitude. I distinctly remember the tree had…

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‘Take away this ball and chain…’

‘Take away this ball and chain…’

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Mike Ness wrote ‘Ball and Chain’ in 1987, and has described the song as a ‘hard luck story’. For Ness, his ‘ball and chain’ was heroin addition, although when asked about the lyrics he said an individual’s ‘ball and chain’ may take many forms. Mine is living in the past. Thoughts from my past constantly intrude into the present, and it’s not the memories of good times that push their way to the forefront of my mind. When I sleep,…

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Home

Home

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I was fortunate to work in Central Australia for nearly twenty years, and a big part of the jobs I did was working with Indigenous people. I remember a friend of mine, who also worked cross-culturally, once saying: ‘I envy Indigenous people. They have a true sense of place. They know where they are from. They know where home is’. For some people, home is where they grew up. Perhaps they have never left their home town, or maybe they…

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The Kindness of Strangers II

The Kindness of Strangers II

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Ayvalik, Turkey We arrived in Ayvalik, a harbour town in the north Aegean, in a strong 25 knot breeze. The forecast was for the wind to increase further, and it delivered, whistling and booming around the boat throughout the night. The following morning we agreed to sit out the weather, deciding it was a good opportunity to get some laundry done. The four of us piled into the dinghy (the ship’s dog is getting more confident with the small craft…

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